


Chasing A Kiss

by furyofthetimelords



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 21:58:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furyofthetimelords/pseuds/furyofthetimelords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After years of exchanging letters and becoming friends, Clary finally meets the boy she's been writing to all these years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chasing A Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic a terribly long time ago, but after a decent re-polish, I feel like I can post it here (I've had it up on fanfic.net for a while, but I figured I should cross-post it here). It was originally written for a fanfic charity bundle some years back, so enjoy this great big ball of fluff fic.

Although they'd never met in person, Clary Fray could say with absolute certainty that Jace Herondale was her best friend. They'd only ever spoken through letters, seeing as he lived in a small country in Europe called Idris; and Clary in New York. They'd made the best of the huge physical gap between them.

How they'd met was a fairly ordinary way with a pen pal program between his school and hers in when they were both eight years old. From there, their friendship had bloomed, turning into one of the best things in Clary's life. He'd been there for her in everything, even if it was only words on a page, they had helped her more than anything else. She loved it when his letters arrived, and how happy she was to have them.

But everything was about to change; Jace was coming to New York, to meet her for the first time in the seven years they'd exchanged letters.

"Clary, hurry up, I know you don't want to be late," Jocelyn, Clary's mother said from the bottom of the stairs. Clary moved at double speed, her hands shaking a little as she moved around the room, looking for her favourite jacket.

"I'm coming!" Clary said as she picked up the jacket from a pile on her floor. She ran down the stairs, a brush in hand, trying to tame her curls; she wanted to look good for Jace. He'd seen her pictures, but the last one she sent him was from a few years before, when she'd just started elementary school. But the last photos she had seen of him were only a few months old and he was so good looking, she could hardly believe her luck in this. He hadn't asked her for a photo in a while, but she wondered if he'd wanted one.

"CLARY!" her mother screamed, making her rush down the stairs, almost dropping her hairbrush.

"I'm coming right now," she replied and sped out to the cab sitting outside.

"Let's go," Jocelyn said as the taxi sped off.

* * *

"Thank you for flying Idris Air, have a nice stay," said the overhead voice as the flight attendants came out. Jace sighed and tapped his fingers impatiently on the armrest. He just wanted to get off of this damned airplane and see Clary. He tried to imagine what she'd look like, whether she still looked like the girl in the picture or if she'd grown into her beauty. He took out the photo of her, the one from a few years before; it was of her sitting on a swing, her face smiling at the camera.

It was his favourite photograph.

He got up as soon as the doors opened, carefully walking down the aisle as quick as he could, making his way out of the airplane that had suddenly become far too suffocating.

When Jace finally got out of the plane, he made a beeline for his bag and made his way out, looking for a redheaded girl. He remembered where they were supposed to meet, just outside of a souvenir shop. So he wandered around, looking for her face amongst the hundreds of people milling about. He saw lovers reunite; families come together, tearful goodbyes and so much more as he wandered around. This made him wonder what actually meeting her would be like; was she really like the girl in the letters?

He didn't have the answers, but he wanted to know everything. While Clary had been forthcoming with her innermost thoughts and a few photos, he realised he knew so little about New York, what they wore, what they ate and what people did to fill the day. He was sure it couldn't have been much different from Idris, but being here was so surreal that he doubted it could be anything like his home city Alicante.

"Jace?" He heard someone say, turning around, he saw two redheads, one tall and looked about thirty or so, the other fairly short-or at least shorter than him- with freckles on her face.

He squinted at them, trying to decide whether to run or start chatting up the smaller one, who looked about his age, if a few years younger.

"Jace Herondale?" The shorter one asked, putting her hands on her hips. She squinted at him, as if studying his face. Jace looked right back at her, trying to see if he could place her face. There was something familiar about it.

"Are you Jace Herondale?" She asked him with a small frown on her face.

"How do you know my name?" he asked well aware of how thick his accent must seem to her.

"It's me; Clary," the girl said and recondition dawned on him.

"Clary?" He asked, eyes widening. Suddenly, he started seeing the similarities between this girl and the picture. The wildly curly hair, the smattering of freckles and the way she smiled.

"In the flesh," she replied and her frown faded, giving way to a smile.

"It's so great to see you," he said, wondering whether or not it was a good idea to hug her.

"Same here; you look good.”

"You too," he said, meaning it. Clary looked amazing to him, the image he'd built up of her in his head didn't look this good; sure some of them had been fairly absurd, but he decided that he liked the real Clary better.

"Clary, it's time to get going. It's nice to meet you Jace," the other redhead said Jace assumed this was Jocelyn, Clary's mother.

"Same here Mrs. Fray," he said, even though Jocelyn wasn't married. He hoped her mother would write it off as an Idris custom rather than an insult. Not that he was trying to insult her; he just didn't know what to call her.

"Call me Jocelyn," she said; making Jace feel relieved there wasn't any awkward moments of correction. He was well aware of how out of place he was in this country. 

"Sure, now where are we going now?"

"To my house, well apartment. Sorry in advance if it's too small. I know you're used to having a bigger place," she said referring to the fact that Jace lived in a huge mansion in the outskirts of Alicante.

"I don't mind a smaller place, I like it here already," he said smiling at Clary as they walked toward her car. Or did she call it a cab?

* * *

"Welcome to my humble abode," Clary said as the cab driver pulled up outside her brownstone. She looked at Jace but he was staring out the window with wide eyes and an enraptured look. It was strange seeing him like this, since she forgot how unfamiliar with America he must be.

It would have been annoying, if not for the way he was just so fascinated by it. It even started to make her feel excited about being here.

"This place is so….amazing," Jace said, looking out into the street.

Clary laughed. "It's just New York Jace, it's nothing special."

"It is actually. It has you in it," he said smiling at her.

She blushed; he'd been saying stuff like this to her for years but now it was different. He was standing right in front of her as a real person as opposed to words on a page. This time, it felt real.

They got out of the cab and unloaded Jace's stuff, a surprisingly large suitcase for a week’s worth of clothing.

"That's huge. How the hell are you going to get that upstairs?" Clary exclaimed, wondering how much exactly he’d shoved into it.

"Carry it?" he said, confused. He looked so adorable it made her smile.

"It's a big set of stairs in there and that's one huge suitcase."

"Oh. I can manage it, after all, no feat it too great of Jace Herondale."

"Well, let's see if you can prove that," Clary said, smiling at him. Jace smiled back and pulled the enormous suitcase toward the stairs.

"I will."

 

* * *

"I did it!" Jace proclaimed happily as he pushed the enormous suitcase into the spare room.

Clary sighed, looking at Jace's exalted face. It was a stupid thing to get excited over, but Clary knew Jace had a competitive streak, something she's always seen proof of in his letters. He’d often recounted events in which he’d simply do something he was told he “couldn’t do” just to prove someone wrong.

"I see, now unpack your stuff a bit. I'm going to grab some food," she told him, walking out of the spare room and going to the kitchen.

Once there, she got out a few bars of chocolate, apples and a couple cans of root beer. It wasn't much but as far as she knew, Jace had never had root beer or anything that wasn't a weird kind of food only found in Idris.

"Here, I have the booty." She said in a faux pirate voice as she walked back into the room. Jace looked up from what he was unpacking and blushed when he realised it was underwear.

"Good, I'm starving. The plane food was awful." Jace said, looking longingly at the chocolate in her hands.

"Then eat up; we have a long week ahead of us," Clary said, taking a bite of one of the apples in her hand.

* * *

The time he was spending with Clary in America seemed to fly by. It was hard to imagine he’d already been here almost a week. But spending so much time with her also made him aware of these feelings, this strange happiness that he felt in her presence. He wasn’t sure how to explain it exactly, but it was more than just attraction. It wasn’t just about how she looked, but rather who _she_ was.

He wished he could tell someone, but there really was no one to tell. It was ironic that Clary, the one person he usually told everything to was the one person he couldn’t really tell about this.

"You okay Jace?" Clary said to him one day as they walked in Central park, a place she'd often mention in her letters as being like a whole other world inside of New York. So far, it had lived up to its promise, with the strangely wide expanse of green inside this hugely urban environment.

"I'm fine, just a little distracted," he said honestly, although he didn’t want to admit that he was distracted by _her_.

It was so different being around her than anyone else. He’d been attracted to girls before, but this was so much different. She _knew_ better than anyone and that unnerved him sometimes, knowing she knew him so well.

"Distracted?" she asked tilting her head to the side so all her red curls fell down her shoulder.

"Yeah, this place reminds me too much of home," he said, shaking his head, trying to get rid of the strangely indecent images out of his head.

"You should, it's amazing." Jace said feeling a pang of homesickness at the thought of home.

Clary didn't respond, she just continued walking on, her face looking dreamy as if she was in a world of her own creation. He wanted to snap her out of it, but had a feeling it might be a bad idea, like waking up a sleepwalker.

Jace followed her along the path and she led him to a giant, almost lake like expanse. There were few people around, just a few old ladies and a couple running into the foliage.

"Here we are. Turtle pond," she said, gesturing to her surroundings. He looked out onto the water; a few ducks were gathered around one of the old ladies who tossed bread at them.

"It's nice," he said lamely; it was pretty good but it wasn't like Lake Lyn, the great dazzling crystal clear lake that was just outside of his home city of Alicante.

"It's my favourite place in the whole city," Clary said, with a smile to him. He didn't hesitate to return it.

"I can see why." He didn't really, but she looked at this place like the tourist in Idris looked at Lake Lyn, this strange adoration that people got when looking at some grand thing in nature.

"I know; I just love to draw it," Clary said, pulling a tiny sketchbook out from her pocket.

"What's in that?" Jace asked; he knew Clary loved to draw and had actually sent a few of her drawing to him, some were just sketches of ordinary things like a bike or a plate of food, but they were good.

"Sketches of the lake, even if they are small." Clary said, opening it and showing him images of the pond. They were great, just as he'd suspected. He saw the way she’d gotten in all these fascinating details, like a squirrel sitting in a tree or a group of tourists snapping photos.

"Amazing. You've really been holding out on me with those drawings you sent me, these are fantastic," he said noting the rather attractive way she blushed when he said this.

"Thanks," She mumbled, obviously not used to praise like that.

"Welcome, now where next?" he asked with a grin.

"Follow me," Clary said then breaking out into a run and he sped after her. 

* * *

Clary fiddled nervously at the pasta in front of her with her fork. Jace didn't even notice, he just kept eating, in that usual infuriating way that guys did.

"Jace?" He looked up, but didn’t stop eating.

"Hello Jace?" She said again. She wanted to talk to him but he just kept eating, digging into the plate of hotdogs he'd ordered from Taki's, her favourite restaurant in the entire city. She knew the food was _good_ , but she didn’t get why he seemed to be almost ignoring her.

"Jace," she said for the final time, getting annoyed at his indifference to her voice. So she grabbed the plate from him just as soon as he reached for the final hotdog.

"Hey, I'm eating," he said, glaring at her.

"You're ignoring me."

He reddened a little. "I was hungry," he said reaching for the plate. Clary pulled it back further.

"Jace, you haven't said anything for a full hour," she stated, and it was true; he hadn't said a word since ordering the food. It had made her nervous, this silence between them. Before now, he seemed to _never_ stop talking and this new silence was almost painful.

"I was…distracted," he said, his face going a light shade of red.

"With what?"

"It doesn't matter," Jace said and his eyes went straight back to the hotdog. She didn't give it back.

"I'd still like to know."

"It's alright Clary, I just feel a little homesick." He said quietly as if he didn't really want to admit it.

She shut up then, not sure of what to actually say. So she just pushed the plate back to him and he dug into the hotdog as if it was his first, not his twenty-first.

"Well that was great," Jace said, licking his lips as he finished the last of the hotdog.

"I know. Taki's always makes the best food," she said, smiling at the memory of her first few times here.

"I can't disagree; food like this is hard to find anywhere in the world," Jace said with a satisfied smile.

"Exactly - oh crap," Clary said, checking her watch. "We're late. Mom's gonna kill me. And I didn't bring my phone," she said and Jace's smile disappeared.

"Can we sneak in?"

"No use, she's not too lenient for this sort of thing," she said and bit her lip, thinking of how angry her mother was going to be.

Jace frowned. "There must be a way."

"I don't think so; we could try and call from a payphone but I don't have much cash on me right now." She said with the worry in her gut increasing.

"Then I guess all we can do is hope she doesn't call the police, let's go." Jace said and Clary got up with him, running out the door and onto the street.

"How much longer are we going to have to wait for a cab?" Jace said as they stood on the street corner. Clary kept waving her hand, trying to call attention to a taxi, but they all seemed frustratingly full.

"I don't know. We're going to have to get lucky," she said turning back to see his worried face. She wanted to give him better news but she didn't want to lie.

"Well, then let's keep trying," Jace said, standing beside her.

Clary prayed for some kind of miracle. 

* * *

"Where have you two been?"

"Out at Taki's; we forgot the time, I would have called but I didn't have much in the way of change and I'd left my phone here. Sorry." Clary said and Jace watched her hang her head. He felt bad, as if this was somehow his fault. He shouldn’t have been so rude, but he felt like if he started talking he’d end up blurting out how much he liked her. Eating all that food was the only way he could be sure he’d say nothing and while it had worked, he did feel sick.

"It's my fault," Jace said, surprising himself as well as Clary and her mother. "I was really hungry and I guess I lost track of time; it's my fault really. Sorry."

He hoped the excuse would be enough and by the look on Jocelyn’s face, she believed him.

"That's okay, now go to bed. I expect you two to be up early tomorrow. I have a few plans," she said and left them standing in the doorway.

"I guess it's time to go, so goodnight," Clary said and gave Jace a quick hug, murmured a quick thank you into his ear and walked down to her bedroom.

"Goodnight," He replied and walked down to the guest room, barely able to contain his smile.

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"What about now?"

"Not yet."

"Now?"

"No. Shut up Jace."

"But-"

"No, shut up and enjoy the drive."

"Yes Fray," Jace said with a mock salute and slouched back down on his seat. The rest of the drive continued on with silence but Jace didn't mind; he liked watching the street fly by. New York still seemed a foreign place even if had been here a little over a week. They passed buildings that appeared to touch the sky, taller even than the glass spires in Alicante.

"Ok, we're here," Clary said, hopping out of the cab. Jace looked out the window; they had arrived at what a sign proclaimed to be Central Park Zoo.

"A Zoo?" He asked her, confused.

"Yep; you'll love it though," she said and walked toward the gate with Jocelyn who was smiling to herself the whole way.

* * *

Clary had always adored the Central park Zoo, especially the penguins. They’d always fascinated her as a child and even now watching them swim relaxed her. Jace however, seemed bored by this whole thing.

"You don't like it?" she asked him.

"I do, but it's so strange," he said and shook his head.

"Strange?"

"I've never seen a real zoo. There isn't one in Alicante. It's more of an exotic wildlife park."

"I see," She said, and then wishing she'd known more about Idris. While she'd known about Jace so long, she hardly knew what life was really like for him back in his homeland. Nor did he know what life was like for her, she realised.

 _But now is your chance to show him_ , she thought with a smile.

"But I do like it," Jace said, breaking her out of her stream of thoughts.

"I love the penguins." She said, suddenly realising she'd never mentioned that to Jace. He gave her a strange look for a moment and went to look at the penguins. She wanted him as he looked into the tank. Her hand twitched in an unconscious gesture and she wished she’d be able to properly sketch his face sometime.

She turned to look back at the penguins and noticed one of her favourites pass by and turned to point it out to Jace, but he’d vanished.

Clary panicked. Where had he gone?

Just then, the worst happened. Her mother came over. The panic increased.

"Where's Jace?" Jocelyn asked and scanned the crowd.

Clary bit her lip; was it better to lie and say he'd just stepped outside or confess that he'd run off?

"Um…" Clary began, deciding it was better to tell the truth than lie to her mother.

But then Jace came up behind her, holding a paper bag.

"Where were you?" she blurted out, sounding almost rude. In truth, she was relieved.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he said, lifting up one eyebrow. She sighed internally, wishing she could do that.

"I would actually. Care to share?"

"Later," he said with a wink.       

"Wait, you were lost?" Jocelyn asked frowning.

"No, I knew where I was going," Jace said with a pointed look. Clary wondered what that was about.

"Good," Jocelyn said and walked over to the other side of the viewing window.

Clary waited for Jace to say something about where he’d run off to.

He didn't.

* * *

As they walked out of the zoo, Jace clutched the paper bag as tightly as he could. Inside it was a small plush penguin, one he hoped Clary would like. He wanted to give it to her as a thank-you present, as something token of his appreciation for showing her this whole new world. Also, he hoped it might be some way he could tell her how he felt. Maybe it wouldn’t be obvious, but Clary wasn’t stupid. She’d work it out.

She’d turned into so much more than he’d expected. Sure, he _knew_ her, but this was different. This wasn’t just words on a page. This was a real, living and breathing girl. This was _Clary_ as who she really was.

This was a girl he could really talk to, really see her laugh and smile.

And maybe even kiss.

"Jace?" Clary said, snapping him out of his thoughts. He wanted to say something but the mental image of kissing her was lingering in his mind.

"Hello?" She said again, but Jace didn't look up. He wasn't sure if he could look her in the eye while having these kinds of thoughts.

He didn’t know what it was, but he had a hard time being able to look her in the eye. Maybe it was because he was afraid she’d see right through him and just _know_ what he was thinking.

"Yes?"

"Good, I thought you'd never respond. Anyway, what is in the bag?" She asked, obviously hoping he'd answer.

He wanted to tell her. But that would ruin the surprise. So instead of telling her that, he simply smirked and raised an eyebrow in a 'wouldn't you like to know?' sort of expression.

"Fine then, if you're not going to tell me, I might as well have to…" she trailed off, obviously without a decent threat.

"Have to what?" he said, unable to resist teasing her.

"Give me a minute. I'm trying to think of something good."

"You do that," he said and walked on ahead to where Jocelyn had hailed a cab.

"I will, as soon as I beat you in this race," she said, running off ahead of him.

"Never," he responded, sprinting toward the cab, laughing.

"You wish," she retorted, slowed down a little, just so he'd get closer but then sped up again just as soon as it looked like he was gaining on her.

Jace just laughed again as she moved, looking like a little bullet.

Needless to say, she beat him, but Jace didn't care, just so long as he saw her smiling.

* * *

"Wake up Clary!" someone said, interrupting her rather pleasant dream involving Jace. She groaned, willing herself to go back to sleep, but the dream was nothing more than a pleasant memory. So she opened her eyes, and came face to face with Jace, or so she assumed it to be, seeing as it was really dark and she could only see a pair of golden eyes.

He’d been standing beside the bed, his face bent down close towards her’s.

 _Close enough to kiss…_ she thought, a blush rising to her cheeks. Jace didn't seem to notice; he just smiled and waited for her to get up.

She glanced at the time.

“Midnight? Really?” she asked him, confused. Why had he awoken her at a time like this?

"Come on, I have something to show you," he said, tugging at her hand. She almost went back to bed, but there was something in his expression that made her want to go.

"What is it?" she asked, curiosity overwhelming the desire to get back to sleep. She then realised that Jace was fully dressed, but she was still in her pyjamas. So she quickly grabbed a hoodie that was discarded on the floor and walked out of the room with him. He moved quickly and quietly to the point where she had trouble keeping up and felt self-conscious about the sound her feet were making.

"What is it Jace?" she asked as they walked into the room.

Jace didn’t reply, instead he walked over to the bed and pulled something out from underneath his pillow.

In the darkness it looked like some kind of giant rock, but as soon as he walked over to her, she saw it was the paper bag.

"Look inside," he said, passing it to her.

She opened the bag, which seemed to be a little wrinkled, and reached in. Confusion swept through her as her fingers encountered something soft.

So she pulled the object out of the bag and raised her eyebrows when she saw what it was.

It was a soft toy penguin.

For a moment, she couldn’t believe it. She’d always wanted one of these penguins as a child, but her mother had never bought her one. Not to be mean, but Jocelyn didn’t have the money to afford those things.

She looked up at Jace, unsure of how to say how much she liked it.

"You don't have to say anything, I just wanted you to have it," Jace said, looking down.

"No - I just don't know what to say," she said, smiling.

Jace muttered something, but she didn't quite catch it.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just think out loud." he said, a little too quickly.

"Well, thanks for the penguin. I guess I better go now…" she said, trailing off. Clary turned to walk away, but was stopped by Jace's hand on her arm.

"Welcome," Jace said, his voice oddly soft.

They locked eyes for a long moment and Clary almost kissed him, but she felt unsure. Did he even really like her that much? And was it even a good idea if he was going to go so soon?

All courage lost, she pulled away from his grip and walked back to her room, trying not to think about how much she’d wanted to kiss him. 

* * *

After Clary had walked out of the room, Jace stood there for a long moment, staring at the place she once stood. Regret course through him; he'd wanted to kiss her so badly, but he just froze for a second, something he, Jace Herondale, had never done before.

"You idiot," he muttered to himself, walking back to the bed. He knew it was useless to try and sleep now, he was still thinking about the kiss that could have been.

Part of him wanted to go back out there and kiss her now, but the moment was gone. She wasn’t just looking at him with those green eyes, her whole attention fixed right on him.

 _You don't have too much longer here_ , a voice reminded him. He didn’t want to think about that. Truthfully, he'd grown comfortable in this life. He'd slowly become accustom to the skyscrapers and city streets as the days had past.

He almost didn't want to go back home.

* * *

The next few days progressed in a slightly awkward fashion for Clary. There was no denying she like _liked_ Jace. It had really hit her as soon as she got back into bed, and the feeling had stayed with her, like a warm glow. Her mother didn't seem to notice anything, but the tension was there.

Clary wanted it to go away; she didn't want to have any messy confessions of love. Jace wasn't going to be here much longer and she knew long distance things never lasted.

That’d happened with her friend Maia and a geeky guy called Simon who'd lived in London. They'd had a great relationship while they were face to face but as soon as Simon left, they grew apart.

Clary didn't want her relationship with Jace to end like that. The thought of him never sending another letter was just too odder thought. Like your own death, it was obscure and unpleasant to contemplate.

Sighing, she shook off the thoughts and tried to concentrate on the things going on around her. There was no way she was going to have an accident of any kind just because she was thinking about Jace.

Right now they were walking around the city, heading toward her favourite all-ages club: Pandemonium. It was a relatively nice night, the sky was almost clear and the street was alive with people.

"Where is this place?" Jace complained as they walked. It was true they had been walking for a while, but she was used to it.

"Not too far. Just a few more blocks," She replied quickly. Clary also tried not to look at him; she knew she'd be blushing if she did.

"Good," said Jace as they rounded the corner.

After a long moment of walking in silence, Clary finally saw the line of people, indicating they were near to the club. So she walked up with Jace and stood in line, waiting for the bouncers to let them in. It wasn’t a huge line, but still substantial enough to make her realise she’d be here for a while.

Eventually the line got shorter and shorted until it was their turn to get in.

“About time,” Jace muttered as they walked inside. 

* * *

Jace moved nervously amongst the crowd. While he'd been in clubs like this before, he still felt out of place. All he wanted to do was talk to Clary. However, she was busy with some idiot who’d asked her to dance the moment they got in.

He didn’t really blame the guy. She looked pretty good in this dress, with the way the green made her hair look redder and eyes bright.

"Hey sexy, wanna dance?" someone said from behind him. He turned and saw a girl with bright blue eyes and pale blonde hair. She had on a bright pink dress, one that fitted her well.

"Sure," he said with a smile.

"I'm Kaelie." She said as she pulled him onto the dance floor.

"Jace," he said and tried to lose himself in the dance, but failed. He could only think about Clary, even as the girl tried to kiss him.

"Not now," he said, neatly avoiding her lips.

"Why not? There's nothing you have to lose."

He looked over at Clary, who was awkwardly dancing on her own, the other guy having apparently abandoned her.

"Actually I do; so if you'll excuse me…" Jace trailed off and walked right over to the redhead.

As Clary moved along the dance floor, she felt a pair of arms wind themselves around her waist.

"May I have this dance, Fray?" Jace whispered in her ear.

"Sure," She replied, half sure this was just a dream.

Jace's hands turned her round to face him, and she blushed. His golden eyes looked at her intently.

She couldn’t help but notice how fantastic he looked up close. There was barely a flaw on his skin, apart from a few strange scars he was yet to explain.

Together, they danced to the music wordlessly. Clary felt like there were a million things she should say, but she had no idea how to say them. So instead of trying to stumble over her own words, she took a chance and kissed him.

The kiss must have looked sudden to an outsider, but to Clary, it was what she'd wanted all along, even if she hadn't known it for long. Jace responded quickly, kissing her in a way that made her want to melt right then and there. She pulled him closer, knotting her fingers in his hair. He however, already had his arms around her waist, but pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

Clary forgot all her worries about him leaving, as well as everything else. All there was there was Jace and her, together at last. 

* * *

After they broke apart, Jace just looked at her, his face incredulous. He still couldn't quite believe she'd kiss him. Even now, with her in his arms, the whole thing seemed surreal.

"Clary…"

She placed a finger on his lips. "Not now, I'd rather not let just anyone hear this," she said and pulled him outside. The night air was relatively warm and balmy; the street was alive with people. Clary then proceeded to pull him across a few blocks, and then some. Eventually they arrived at Taki's.

"Now, we can talk," she said as they sat down at a table. She said it confidently, but there was something of a nervous edge to her voice.

"I'm not quite sure how to say it," he said honestly. How could he explain how she’d become too real to him, so much more than just words on a page. And how could he say he’d fallen in love with her, knowing her as she was now?

"Then just talk. Find something and hold onto it, just talk to me."

"It started when I first saw you, well in person anyway. I thought you looked beautiful. I mean I knew you before this, but knowing you now…it’s different. This is better,” he said.

“I guess I didn’t really figure it out until you gave me the penguin,” she said with a blush. “I guess I should've realised it sooner.”

 Jace knew what she meant, it wasn't an ideal situation, and he was leaving in a few days. The stab of regret coursed through him as he thought of all the wasted time, the time he could have really spent with her. But maybe it was supposed to be like that, maybe there could be more than three more days.

After all, it wasn’t like they’d never see each other again after this. There would be other times they’d get to be together. There had to be.

"I get it, but don't worry. There must be something we can do."

"I know, but what will really happen, how can we have this long distance thing?"

"It's called faith Clary. Besides, I know how we can make it work," he reached across the table, placing his hand on her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"I guess we can try. But I don't want to ever lose you Jace, your friendship means too much."

He knew what she meant. Knowing her had been one of the best things in his life and there was no way in hell he wanted to lose that either. “I know, but right now, let’s just enjoy ourselves.”

The smile she gave him seemed to light up the whole room. 

* * *

After the last few blissful days they had, it then came the day that Jace had to leave. Clary almost didn’t want to get up, as if staying asleep for longer could make time stop.

Eventually, she convinced herself to get up. The day was perfect, reflecting none of the sadness she felt. It was ironic really. She felt like their last day like this shouldn’t be so sunny.

Clary glanced at the clock. Five hours to go.

They had to get to the airport early to check in, so Jocelyn rushed them on, making sure Jace had everything packed and ready to go.

"Come on," Jocelyn said as she waited outside for the cab. Clary didn't want to leave, but they had to. Life was going to go on and besides, Jace needed to get back to his family.

He wasn’t really leaving her, but the thought of him not being here all the time made her sad. She’d really miss having him here, looking so amazed at everything.

"I'm moving," she said, trying to squash her inner turmoil.

"Good," Jocelyn replied. Clary knew her mother was always concerned with being on time, especially for things that mattered.

The drive seemed to go to fast; they caught every green light and didn't stop for a single moment. Clary felt the anxious feelings in her gut stir as the giant airport building came closer and closer.

Jace didn't say much, he just had a blank face. The only indication that he was feeling anything at all was the fact that his hand was tightly gripping hers. Clary wanted to ask him what he what he was thinking, but there was a look on his face that said he didn’t want to talk about it.

"Come on kids. We've arrived." Jocelyn said making haste to get herself out of the car and getting all of Jace's stuff out of the boot.

"Coming," they said in unison and got out of the car, hands entwined.

* * *

"Flight 237 a now boarding, flight 237 to Alicante, Idris now boarding," said the monotone voice over the speakers. Jace's stomach tightened; he'd been trying not to think about this moment ever since he arrived in New York. While he didn't want to leave Clary so soon, he also was desperate to see home; his time in New York, although a great place, had reminded him of how much he missed Idris. Jace closed his eyes; he knew he had to leave now.

He turned to Clary, who'd come with him through security.

"I'll miss you," he said, but the words didn't seem to suffice his feelings. He was going to miss her, and now that he'd really met her, it was going to be hard going back to their old ways.

"Same here," she said and he could have sworn he'd saw tears in her eyes.

He leaned over and kissed her, holding onto her for as long as he could. Time was running out and he was going to treasure the moments they had.

Clary broke away from the kiss, but kept pressed her forehead to his. She looked into his eyes, green meeting gold, and was about to say one more thing.

Jace stopped her with a kiss. He knew she was going to say goodbye, but he wasn't going to let her say it. That would make it final.

"Don't say it. Not yet. I'm not quite gone," he said before walking off, not bothering to wait for her response. It would be too painful.

He never thought saying goodbye to someone he had only just met face to face would be so hard. And he was sure there was no way to explain it to anyone else, how could he anyway?

Walking out onto the tarmac, Jace tried not to cry. He didn't really feel comfortable crying in front of so many strangers.  Besides, he reminded himself, this wasn’t even really goodbye. He’d see her again soon. He had to. 

* * *

Clary waited until she saw the plane leave the tarmac before she thought about leaving. It was a long wait, but she wanted to hold onto the last few moments of his trip. The kiss tinged with sadness and hope, the look on his face just before he'd turned away from her.

Those were thing she always wanted to hold onto, things she wanted to remember the next time they met.

"Goodbye Jace," She whispered to the air as the plane disappeared from sight.


End file.
